Minor Characters Analysis Flashcards
Who are the minor characters?
Fred
Fanny
Ignorance and Want
Belle
Mrs Cratchit
Martha Cratchit
Peter Cratchit
Old Joe
The Charwoman, Laundress and Undertaker’s man
Caroline
Mrs Fezziwig
Portly Gentlemen
Dick Wilkins
Fanny/Fan character description
Scrooge’s younger sister is a character that is used to represent love,youth and optimism. She is used to humanise Scrooge and to show that Scrooge was not always someone who hated Christmas.
Quotation show Fanny’s kindess
‘A delicate creature, whom a breath might have withered…but she had a large heart’
Ignorance and Want
Two childlike beings used to show Scrooge the effects of poverty within society and the fact that children often suffer most from society’s issues.
Belle
Scrooge’s former fiancée who ends their relationship due to Scrooge’s fixation with money.
Mrs Cratchit
Bob Cratchit’s wife is presented as a model wife and mother which continues with the notion that the Cracthit family are an idealised representation of the poor.
Martha Cratchit
Martha is Bob Cratchit’s eldest child. She appears in the novella when she arrives home late on christmas day due to her work. This characterises her as hard working and challenge’s Scrooge’s misconception that the poor in society are ‘idle’.
Peter Cratchit
Bob Cratchit’s oldest son. He is described as wearing his father’s shirt which we realise is too large for him. Regardless he is happy which creates symphathy for him and others in poverty.
Old Joe
A pawnbroker who owns a shop in a ‘foul’ area of town. The three thieves bring Scrooge’s stolen belongings into his shop and at times he almost laughs at Scrooge’s death showing how Scrooge was viewed during life.
The Charwoman, Laundress and Undertaker’s man
Three people who used to work for Scrooge who stole from him and insulted him upon his death due to the way he treated them.
Caroline
A poverty-stricken woman who has young children and is in debt to scrooge. Upon his death she cannot help but feel pleasure at how it helps her family however she knows her feelings are immoral
Mrs Fezziwig
Similar to character to Fezziwig. She was his equal in terms of business and marriage. Her positive relationship with Fezziwig is contrasted with Scrooge’s relationship with belle as the relationship with belle comes directly after in the novella.
Portly Gentlemen
The two men who approach Scrooge in the opening stave, asking for a donation to help the ‘destitute’. They immediately expose the apathetic nature of Scrooge.
Dick Wilkins
Scrooge’s fellow apprentice. His attitude to Dick is more genuine and heartfelt than that with Marley as he was ‘not so dreadfully cut up by the sad event’ of Marley dying.
